Shredders are for large or very dense parts. They can rip up large items into smaller pieces about 2” to 4” in size and are effective on a wide range of materials. Shredders reduce the time and effort required to manually cut up large parts. They can be used to efficiently reduce materials before going to the granulator.
Choosing a shredder depends upon the material to be cut as well as its size, shape, and thickness. The amount of material that needs to be shredded and how the shredded material will be processed are also key considerations. The feed hopper must be evaluated for operator safety. It should be sized to receive the largest part being shredded without requiring labor-intensive and potentially dangerous precutting. Most safety devices in today’s shredders involve electrical interlocks that prevent access to the cutting chamber until the rotor has stopped turning.
There are two main types of rotor configurations: single-shaft and multi-shaft. Rotors drive material into the cutting zone either between the rotating and mating stationary knives like a granulator (single-shaft) or between another mating rotor’s cutter disks (multi-shaft).
Shredder cutting disks and knives should be designed for quick removal and re-installation to maximize production uptime. Many shredders utilize keys for disassembly and reassembly of cutters and disks for sharpening. Some systems offer optional magnetic bar trays to assist in capturing ferrous particles to prevent damaging the cutters.
The material hopper can be configured in a number of ways to meet your unique loading and size reduction needs. Open and closed hopper designs are available, and optional sound-reducing features can also be integrated into the hopper design. Some shredders also offer built-in cameras mounted inside the shredder infeed section to allow for visual inspection during operation and to monitor performance. Common shredder options include ram-feed assist to help drive the material into the cutting zone and classification screens to control the size of the shredded material output.
There are two types of drives for shredders, electric and hydraulic. Electric shredders require less space, are easier to operate and maintain, are more energy-efficient, and tend to be less expensive than hydraulic shredders. Hydraulic drives are often better for more heavy-duty processing and particularly for materials that experience frequent overloads from batch feeding.
How do you assess the value of a shredder to your operation? While no calculations are perfect or guaranteed, a well utilized shredder can increase down-stream equipment performance, such as a granulator, from 25% to 75%, depending on the materials and application.
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